Can opener



May 23, 1967 Filed Sept. lO,

2f ZU l l .94 -L J. NATHAN ETAL.

CAN OPENER 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JERnME NA THAN. i BY F Rmwf G. CHAMP.

HTTNEX May 23, 1967 J. NATHAN ETAI.

CAN OPENER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed sept. 10, 1965 MP.. mn@ M @ai mw. on T M Em United States Patent O 3,320,667 CAN OPENER Jerome Nathan, Manchester, and Frank G. Champ,

Wethersfield, Conn., assignors to The Seeburg Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 10, 1965, Ser. No. 486,335 2 Claims. (Cl. 30-10) This invention relates to a device for opening cans and particularly to an improved can opener for use on vending machines to open cans dispensed thereby.

Vending machines are now commonly used for dispensing beverages in containers, such as cans, and it is desirable that such vending machines be provided with a convenient device for quickly and safely opening the cans after they are taken from the machines.

In addition, since the beverages sold in such cans may contain substances which are conducive to bacteria growth, it is extremely important that can openers for such vending machines he adapted for clean and sanitary operation and easy maintenance to prevent such bacteria growth and the transfer of bacteria or foreign matter to the contents of the can being opened.

It is therefore an object of our present invention to provide a can opener in which the parts which come in contact with the contents of the can are readily accessible for cleaning to prevent the accumulation of foreign matter and the growth of bacteria therein.

A further object is to provide a can opening mechanism which can be easily operated manually and in which the can opening element thereof may be quickly and easily detached for cleaning or replacement.

A still further object is to provide means for heating said can opening element to a sufficiently high temperature to sterilize said element of any bacteria that may be deposited thereon.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a manually operated can opener in which a can to 'be opened is received within a chamber having a protective cover and in which the opening of said can is effected while it is still in said chamber by the simple operation of closing said cover o-ver the can and thereby shielding the can and its contents and providing maximum protection for the user.

These and other objects of our invention will be more clearly understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational front view of a can opening device embodying our present invention- FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of said device showing, in dotted lines, a can being opened thereby and the manner in which the device is mounted on the wall of a vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view showing said device in open position and ready to receive a can to be opened.

FIG. 4 is an elevational plan view of said can opener.

FIG. 5 is an elevational rear view of the upper portion thereof.

FIG. 6 is an isometric rear vie-w of the door member for said can opener.

FIG. 7 is an isometric rear view of the operating mechanism for said can opener.

FIG. 8 is a similar view of the housing for said can opener.

FIGS. 9, 10, and l1 are, respectively, an elevational front view, a side view, and a rear view of the can opening element of s-aid device.

FIG. 12 is a rear View, partly in central vertical section, showing the means for retaining the heating element in the cutter lever.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown Cice in the drawing, our novel can opener is adapted to be mounted upon the front panel of the door of a conventional vending machine for convenient use in opening a can dispensed therefrom. The said can opener being so constructed that the operating mechanism thereof will be disposed inwardly of said door and is thereby protected from exposure to dust and dirt and also against tampering.

The said can opener comprises a casing 5 which is adapted to be mounted upon a wall of a vending machine, indicated at 6, and has a surrounding flange 7 fitting against the face of said wall and provided with holes 8 to receive screws for fastening said housing to the wall.

The casing 5 has a rearwardly extending enclosure portion providing a can receiving chamber 9 with a bottom wall 10, a top wall 11 having an opening 12 therethrough, and a rear wall 13 which is curved at its center about a vertical axis in the chamber to receive and center a can against said rear wall when placed within said chamber to be opened. Pairs of spaced parallel bosses 14 and 15 are formed in said top and bottom walls, respectively, for guiding said can and thereby assisting in locating it in proper position within said chamber 9 and against said rear wall.

A can opening unit 16, shown in FIG. 7, is adapted to be mounted upon the top wall 11, as clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5. The said unit includes a base plate 17 which is secured to the top wall over the opening 12 by means of screws 18-18 threaded to nuts 19-19 that are insertable in undercut slots 20-20.

A cutter lever 21 is pivotally mounted at 22, upon said plate 1`7 by means of a removable pivot pin 23 which has an angular portion 24 that engages a projection 25 on the base plate to hold said pivot pin in operative position. A cutter member 26 is mounted upon the cutter lever 21 in line with the center of the rear wall 13 and secured thereto by a screw 27.

A cover 28 for the chamber 9 has a grasping lip portion 29 and is pivotally mounted upon the base plate 17 by a pivot pin 30 and said cover has a lever extension 28a that is pivotally connected to the -cutter lever 21 by a link 31 with pivot pins 32 and 33.

In the normal position of said can opener, clearly shown in FIG. 2, the cutter member 26 extends downwardly through the opening 12 and is disposed adjacent to the rear wall 13 and the cover 28 is in its downward and closed position in front of the chamber 9 with the lip portion 29 thereof extending below the flange 7.

When a can, indicated in dotted lines at 34, is to be opened, the cover 28 is grasped by the lip portion 29 and raised to the position shown in FIG. 3. This will operate the cutter lever 21, through the link 31, and thereby swing the cutter member 26 to its raised position, all as clearly illustrated in FIG. 3. The can 34 is then inserted into the chamber 9, into the position shown, and the cover 28 is pushed downwardly to its closed position shown in FIG. 2, whereby the cutter member is forced downwardly through the top of the can and rearwardly in line with the center of the curved rear wall; and there- 'by opening said can.

As the said cutter member is thus open-ing the can, .it will tend to force said can rearwardly against the curved rear wall 13 of the chamber 9 and thereby firmly steadying the can centrally against said wall and bending the cut out portion of the can cover downwardly into the can and rearwardly against the wall thereof to facilitate emptying of its contents.

Since it is desirable to provide means for preventing the accumulation of live bacteria upon the cutter member 26 from contact with the contents of the cans, the cutter lever 21 is provided with an opening 35 into which may be inserted a cartridge type electric heating element 36 which will maintain a suiiciently high temperature to sterilize said cutter member.

As shown in FIG. 2, a eXible guard strip 41 is preferably provided over the rear of the can opener to shield the hot cutter lever 21 and also to prevent spraying from the can opener of the contents of a can being opened in the chamber 9, should such spraying occur between the parts of said can opener. The said guard being anchored to the pin 32 and secured to the rear of the casing 5 by a screw 42.

As illustrated in FIG. l2, -a coiled spring member 37 provides a exible guard and strain relief for theconductor wires 38 lof the heating element and detachably secures the heating element 36 to the cutter lever 21. Said spring member has a portion which surrounds the conductor wires 38 of the heating element and abuts said element and said portion has a loop 39 which extends laterally therefrom and ts between the bearing boss 40 of the base plate 17 and the side of the cutter lever and is retained in position by the pin 23 which passes through said loop. When it is desired to detach the cutter lever from the mechanism for cleaning or replacement of the cutter, and the said pin is removed, the s-aid cutter lever may be simply detached from the heating element without requiring disconnecting of the heating element from its electr-ical connection.

We claim:

1. A can opening device including a casing having a chamber therein with top and bottom walls and a rear 4 wall, a pivotally mounted cutter member projecting downwardly into said chamber from said top wall, pairs of parallel spaced bosses at the top and bottom of said chamber for positioning a can in said chamber and against said rear wall a pivotally mounted cover for closing said chamber, and means operatively connecting said cover to said cutter member for rais-ing said cutter mem- -ber upon movement of the cover to open position and lowering said cutter member into engagement with the top of a can placed in said chamber to open said can upon movement of the cover to closed position.

2. A can opening device including `a casing having a chamber therein, a bearing above said chamber, a cutter lever having a cutter mounted thereon, a detachable pin ymember pivotally mounting said cutter lever to said bearing, said cutter lever having .an opening therein, a heating element removably yinserted in said opening, conductors leading from said heating element, and a flexible guard comprising a coiled spring member surrounding said conductors and abutting said heating element, said spring member having a loop extending laterally therefrom and itting between said bearing and cutter lever and surround-ing said pin member for securing said spring member to retain said heating element Within said opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,284,066 5/1942 Ostrander .B0-6.1 2,790,233 4/1957 Sublett et al. 30-4 3,204,336 9/1965 Zibbell et al. 30-10 X WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

G. WEIDENFELD, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CAN OPENING DEVICE INCLUDING A CASING HAVING A CHAMBER THEREIN WITH TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS AND A REAR WALL, A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED CUTTER MEMBER PROJECTING DOWNWARDLY INTO SAID CHAMBER FROM SAID TOP WALL, PAIRS OF PARALLEL SPACED BOSSES AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF SAID CHAMBER FOR POSITIONING A CAN IN SAID CHAMBER AND AGAINST SAID REAR WALL A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED COVER FOR CLOSING SAID CHAMBER, AND MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID COVER TO SAID CUTTER MEMBER FOR RAISING SAID CUTTER MEM- 